Uplink transmission for multi-panel operation

ABSTRACT

Methods, systems, and storage media are described for uplink transmission for multi-panel operation. Other embodiments may be described and/or claimed.

RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to: U.S.Provisional Application No. 62/694,216 filed Jul. 5, 2018; and U.S.Provisional Application No. 62/713,975 filed Aug. 2, 2018, the contentsof which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

FIELD

Various embodiments of the present application generally relate to thefield of wireless communications, and in particular, to uplinktransmission for multi-panel operation.

BACKGROUND

Among other things, embodiments of the present disclosure relate tomultiplexing physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) and physical uplinkshared channel (PUSCH) with multiple transmit and receive points(multi-TRP) and multi-panel operation. In particular, embodimentsinclude beam/panel indication for PUCCH; multiplexing PUCCH(s) withmulti-TRP and multi-panel operation; and Multiplexing PUCCH(s) andPUSCH(s) with multi-TRP and multi-panel operation

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments will be readily understood by the following detaileddescription in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. To facilitatethis description, like reference numerals designate like structuralelements. Embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not by wayof limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings.

FIGS. 1 and 2, and 3 illustrate examples of operation flow/algorithmicstructures in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 4A illustrates an example of dual transmission for a data andcontrol channel in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 4B illustrates an example of multiplexing PUCCH and PUSCH inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 4C-4H illustrate examples of signal multiplexing for multi-paneloperation in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 4I illustrates an example of a measurement model in accordance withsome embodiments.

FIG. 5 depicts an architecture of a system of a network in accordancewith some embodiments.

FIG. 6 depicts an example of components of a device in accordance withsome embodiments.

FIG. 7 depicts an example of interfaces of baseband circuitry inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 8 is an illustration of a control plane protocol stack inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 9 is an illustration of a user plane protocol stack in accordancewith some embodiments.

FIG. 10 illustrates components of a core network in accordance with someembodiments.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating components, according to someembodiments, of a system to support network function virtualization(NFV).

FIG. 12 depicts a block diagram illustrating components, according tosome embodiments, able to read instructions from a machine-readable orcomputer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readablestorage medium) and perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments discussed herein may relate to uplink transmission formulti-panel operation. Other embodiments may be described and/orclaimed.

The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings.The same reference numbers may be used in different drawings to identifythe same or similar elements. In the following description, for purposesof explanation and not limitation, specific details are set forth suchas particular structures, architectures, interfaces, techniques, etc.,in order to provide a thorough understanding of the various aspects ofthe claimed invention. However, it will be apparent to those skilled inthe art having the benefit of the present disclosure that the variousaspects of the invention claimed may be practiced in other examples thatdepart from these specific details. In certain instances, descriptionsof well-known devices, circuits, and methods are omitted so as not toobscure the description of the present invention with unnecessarydetail.

Various aspects of the illustrative embodiments will be described usingterms commonly employed by those skilled in the art to convey thesubstance of their work to others skilled in the art. However, it willbe apparent to those skilled in the art that alternate embodiments maybe practiced with only some of the described aspects. For purposes ofexplanation, specific numbers, materials, and configurations are setforth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the illustrativeembodiments. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art thatalternate embodiments may be practiced without the specific details. Inother instances, well-known features are omitted or simplified in ordernot to obscure the illustrative embodiments.

Further, various operations will be described as multiple discreteoperations, in turn, in a manner that is most helpful in understandingthe illustrative embodiments; however, the order of description shouldnot be construed as to imply that these operations are necessarily orderdependent. In particular, these operations need not be performed in theorder of presentation.

The phrase “in various embodiments,” “in some embodiments,” and the likemay refer to the same, or different, embodiments. The terms“comprising,” “having,” and “including” are synonymous, unless thecontext dictates otherwise. The phrase “A and/or B” means (A), (B), or(A and B). The phrases “A/B” and “A or B” mean (A), (B), or (A and B),similar to the phrase “A and/or B.” For the purposes of the presentdisclosure, the phrase “at least one of A and B” means (A), (B), or (Aand B). The description may use the phrases “in an embodiment,” “inembodiments,” “in some embodiments,” and/or “in various embodiments,”which may each refer to one or more of the same or differentembodiments. Furthermore, the terms “comprising,” “including,” “having,”and the like, as used with respect to embodiments of the presentdisclosure, are synonymous.

Examples of embodiments may be described as a process depicted as aflowchart, a flow diagram, a data flow diagram, a structure diagram, ora block diagram. Although a flowchart may describe the operations as asequential process, many of the operations may be performed in parallel,concurrently, or simultaneously. In addition, the order of theoperations may be re-arranged. A process may be terminated when itsoperations are completed, but may also have additional steps notincluded in the figure(s). A process may correspond to a method, afunction, a procedure, a subroutine, a subprogram, and the like. When aprocess corresponds to a function, its termination may correspond to areturn of the function to the calling function and/or the main function.

Examples of embodiments may be described in the general context ofcomputer-executable instructions, such as program code, softwaremodules, and/or functional processes, being executed by one or more ofthe aforementioned circuitry. The program code, software modules, and/orfunctional processes may include routines, programs, objects,components, data structures, etc., that perform particular tasks orimplement particular data types. The program code, software modules,and/or functional processes discussed herein may be implemented usingexisting hardware in existing communication networks. For example,program code, software modules, and/or functional processes discussedherein may be implemented using existing hardware at existing networkelements or control nodes.

Uplink Transmission for Multi-Panel Operation

High frequency band communication for fifth-generation new radio (5G NR)systems can provide wide bandwidth to support integrated communicationsystems. Beam forming is a critical technology for the implementation ofhigh frequency band system due to the fact that the beam forming gaincan compensate the severe path loss caused by atmospheric attenuation,improve the SNR, and enlarge the coverage area. By aligning thetransmission beam to the target UE, radiated energy is focused forhigher energy efficiency, and mutual UE interference is suppressed.

In the case when a UE is equipped with two or multiple sub-arrays orpanels, the UE is capable of transmitting or receiving the control anddata channel using two or multiple panels simultaneously to improve thelink budget. FIG. 4A illustrates one example of a dual transmissionscheme for control and data channel according to some embodiments. Inthis example, the UE forms two Tx or Rx beams at the same time for thetransmission or reception of data and control channel. In this example,two gNBs or transmit and receive points (TRP) receive the uplink datafrom one UE using dual beam transmission. However, in other scenarios,one gNB may receive the uplink data channel from one UE using two beams.

In NR, uplink control information (UCI) can be carried by physicaluplink control channel (PUCCH) or physical uplink shared channel(PUSCH). In particular, UCI may include scheduling request (SR), hybridautomatic repeat request-acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) feedback, channelstate information (CSI) report, e.g., channel quality indicator (CQI),pre-coding matrix indicator (PMI), CSI resource indicator (CRI) and rankindicator (RI) and/or beam related information (e.g., L1-RSRP (layer1-reference signal received power)).

When a UE is configured or indicated to transmit PUSCH or PUCCH usingmultiple panels or beams, and when multiple PUSCHs using different Txbeams or panels overlap with PUCCH with single or multiple beams orpanels, certain mechanisms need to be defined for multiplexing PUCCH(s)and PUSCH(s) to allow alignment between the gNB and UE.

Among other things, embodiments herein relate to multiplexing PUCCH(s)and PUSCH(s) with multi-TRP and multi-panel operation. In particular,embodiments include beam/panel indication for PUCCH; multiplexingPUCCH(s) with multi-TRP and multi-panel operation; and MultiplexingPUCCH(s) and PUSCH(s) with multi-TRP and multi-panel operation.

In NR, it was agreed that when single-slot physical uplink controlchannel (PUCCH) overlaps with single-slot PUCCH or single-slot physicaluplink shared channel (PUSCH) in slot n for a PUCCH group, the UEmultiplex all UCIs on either one PUCCH or one PUSCH, using the existingUCI multiplexing rule, if both following conditions are satisfied: (1)if the first symbol of the earliest PUCCH(s)/PUSCH(s) among all theoverlapping channels starts no earlier than symbol N₁+d_(1,1)+d_(1,2)+1after the last symbol of PDSCH(s); and (2) if the first symbol of theearliest PUCCH(s)/PUSCH(s) among all the overlapping channels starts noearlier than N₂+d_(2,1)+1 after the last symbol of PDCCHs scheduling ULtransmissions including HARQ-ACK and PUSCH (if applicable) for slot n.

If at least one pair of overlapping channels does not meet the abovetimeline requirements, UE consider it is an error case for all ULchannels in the group of overlapping channels. In this case, UE behavioris not specified. Note that N₁, N₂, d_(1,1), d_(1,2), d_(2,1) areprocessing time related parameters, which are defined in TS38.214.

FIG. 4B illustrates one example of timeline check for multiplexing ofPUCCH and PUSCH. In the example of FIG. 4B, the timeline requirement issatisfied, and therefore PUCCH carrying HARQ-ACK feedback is dropped andHARQ-ACK feedback is piggybacked on PUSCH.

Beam/Panel Indication for PUCCH

A UE with multiple panels may transmit PUCCH from one panel, a subset ofthe multiple panels, or all panels. One issue that arises is how toindicate the panel that the UE should use to transmit the PUCCH. As usedherein, a “UE panel” comprises a group of one or more UE antenna ports,and a “beam” refers to a spatial domain transmission filter.

In an embodiment, for a PUCCH resource, the UE panel can be indicated byRRC or RRC and MAC Control Element (CE). For a PUCCH resource, a UE maybe configured with N (N>=1) PUCCH-spatialRelationInfo by RRC. If N>1, aMAC CE can be used for down-selection.

In one option, up to M PUCCH-spatialRelationInfo can be selected by MACcontrol element (CE), where the maximum value of M indicates the maximumnumber of simultaneously transmitted beams by a UE. The maximum numberof simultaneously transmitted beams can refer to number of UE panels,and it could be reported as a UE capability. In eachPUCCH-spatialRelationInfo, only one Sounding Reference Signal (SRS),Synchronization Signal Block (SSB), or Channel State InformationReference Signal (CSI-RS) resource can be indicated. The indicatedPUCCH-spatialRelationInfo can be one-to-one mapped to each UE panel withincreasing order, where one value of PUCCH-spatialRelationInfo indicatesno beam indication for the panel. Alternatively, the UE panel index canbe configured within a PUCCH-spatialRelationInfo or derived from theconfigured SRS/SSB/CSI-RS resource.

In another option, each PUCCH-spatialRelationInfo could include up to Mreference signal resources based on SRS and/or SSB and/or CSI-RS. Eachreference signal is used to indicate the beam(s) for one or multiplepanel(s), where the panel index can be derived from the configuredSRS/SSB/CSI-RS resource.

If SRS resource is configured, the panel index can be derived based onthe UE antenna port index configured for the SRS resource, or the panelindex can be configured for a SRS resource. If SSB/CSI-RS resource isconfigured, the panel index can be based on the panel which is used toreceive the SSB/CSI-RS resource, or the panel index can be reported togNB during beam reporting.

Furthermore, for PUCCH resources in a resource set, UE may expect thesame panel index or the same number of panels should be configured. Inaddition, the power control parameters set for each panel, e.g. P0,alpha, downlink reference signal resource for pathloss measurement, andclosed-loop index, can be selected based on each indicatedPUCCH-spatialRelationInfo if multiple PUCCH-spatialRelationInfo can beindicated. Alternatively, PUCCH-spatialRelationInfo can be mapped to oneor more than one power control parameter sets.

Multiplexing PUCCH(s) with Multi-TRP and Multi-Panel Operation

When multiple PUCCHs using different Tx beams or panels overlap withPUCCH with single or multiple beams or panels, certain mechanisms needto be defined for multiplexing PUCCH(s) with different UCI types toallow alignment between gNB and UE.

Embodiments of multiplexing PUCCH(s) with multi-TRP and multi-paneloperation are provided as follows. In one embodiment, when PUCCHscarrying a first UCI type using more than beams or panels overlap withPUCCH carrying a second UCI type using one beam or panel (beam A orpanel A) in a slot, if the timeline requirement is satisfied, the firstand second UCI type are multiplexed on PUCCH using beam A or panel A andthe first UCI type is carried by PUCCH using other beams or panels,otherwise it is considered as an error case. The multiplexing rule isdefined in accordance with the multiplexing rule as defined in NR.

FIG. 4C illustrates one example of multiplexing PUCCHs with differentUCI types with multi-panel operation. In this example, UE is equippedwith two panels and can transmit two beams simultaneously. Based on themultiplexing rule as mentioned above, HARQ-ACK and CSI report aremultiplexed in a PUCCH using panel A or beam A. In addition, HARQ-ACK iscarried by PUCCH using panel B or beam B.

In another embodiment, when PUCCHs carrying a first UCI type using morethan beams or panels overlap with PUCCH carrying a second UCI type usingone beam or panel (beam A or panel A) in a slot, if the timelinerequirement is satisfied, the first and second UCI type are multiplexedon PUCCH using all beams and panels, otherwise it is considered as anerror case. The multiplexing rule is defined in accordance with themultiplexing rule as defined in NR. Note that the PUCCH resources for acombined first and second UCI types using different beams or panels maybe same or different depending on the allocated resource.

FIG. 4D illustrates one example of multiplexing PUCCHs with differentUCI types with multi-panel operation. In this example, UE is equippedwith two panels and can transmit two beams simultaneously. Based on themultiplexing rule as mentioned above, HARQ-ACK and CSI report aremultiplexed in two PUCCHs using both panel A and B or beam A and B.

In another embodiment, when PUCCHs carrying a first UCI type using morethan beams or panels overlap with PUCCH carrying a second UCI type usingone beam or panel (beam A or panel A) in a slot, if the timelinerequirement is satisfied, PUCCH carrying the second UCI type is droppedand UE transmits the PUCCHs carrying the first UCI type using more thanbeams or panels, otherwise it is considered as an error case.

FIG. 4E illustrates one example of multiplexing PUCCHs with differentUCI types with multi-panel operation. In this example, UE is equippedwith two panels and can transmit two beams simultaneously. Based on themultiplexing rule as mentioned above, CSI report is dropped and HARQ-ACKfeedback is transmitted by two PUCCHs using two panels or beams.

Multiplexing PUCCH(s) and PUSCH(s) with Multi-TRP and Multi-PanelOperation

When a UE is configured or indicated to transmit PUSCH or PUCCH usingmultiple panels or beams, and when multiple PUSCHs using different Txbeams or panels overlap with PUCCH with single or multiple beams orpanels, certain mechanisms need to be defined for multiplexing PUCCH(s)and PUSCH(s) to allow alignment between the gNB and UE. Embodiments ofmultiplexing PUCCH(s) and PUSCH(s) with multi-TRP and multi-paneloperation are provided as follows.

In one embodiment, when a UE is configured or indicated to transmitPUSCHs using one or more than one Tx beams or panels, and when PUSCHsoverlap with PUCCH carrying UCI using one or more than one Tx beams orpanels in a slot, if the timeline requirement is satisfied, and if PUSCHis based on coherent transmission, UCI is multiplexed on all PUSCHsusing more than one Tx beams or panels, otherwise, it is considered asan error case.

FIG. 4F illustrates one example of multiplexing PUSCHs and PUCCH withmulti-panel operation. In this example, UE is equipped with two panelsand can transmit two beams simultaneously. Based on the multiplexingrule as mentioned above, UCI is multiplexed on both PUSCHs usingdifferent beams or panels.

In another embodiment, when a UE is configured or indicated to transmitPUSCHs using one or more than one Tx beams or panels, and when PUSCHsoverlap with PUCCH carrying UCI using one or more than one Tx beams orpanels, if the timeline requirement is satisfied, and if PUSCH is basedon non-coherent transmission, UCI is multiplexed on the PUSCH using thesame panel or beam or antenna port (AP) as PUCCH, otherwise, it isconsidered as an error case.

FIG. 4G illustrates one example of multiplexing PUSCHs and PUCCH withmulti-panel operation. In this example, UE is equipped with two panelsand can transmit two beams simultaneously. Based on the multiplexingrule as mentioned above, UCI is multiplexed on the PUSCH using panel A,e.g., the same panel configured for PUCCH transmission.

In another embodiment, when a UE is configured or indicated to transmitPUSCHs using one or more than one Tx beams or panels, and when PUSCHsoverlap with PUCCH carrying UCI using one or more than one Tx beams orpanels in a slot, if the timeline requirement is satisfied, and if PUSCHis based on non-coherent transmission, UCI is multiplexed on the PUSCHwith the lowest Demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) AP or with thelowest frequency resource, otherwise, it is considered as an error case.Note that the above may also apply for the case of coherent PUSCHtransmission using more than one beams or panels.

FIG. 4H illustrates one example of multiplexing PUSCHs and PUCCH withmulti-panel operation. In this example, UE is equipped with two panelsand can transmit two beams simultaneously. Based on the multiplexingrule as mentioned above, UCI is multiplexed on the PUSCH using panel Bwhich has lower frequency resource than the PUSCH using panel A.

In another embodiment, when UE is configured or indicated to transmitPUSCHs using one or more than one Tx beams or panels, and when PUSCHsoverlap with PUCCH carrying UCI using one or more than one Tx beams orpanels in a slot, if the timeline requirement is satisfied, one of thePUSCHs or PUCCHs is dropped, otherwise, it is considered as an errorcase.

Beam Management

In NR implementations, beam management refers to a set of L1/L2procedures to acquire and maintain a set of transmission/receptionpoint(s) (TRP or TRxP) and/or UE beams that can be used for downlink(DL) and uplink (UL) transmission/reception. Beam management includesvarious operations or procedures, such as beam determination, beammanagement, beam reporting, and beam sweeping operations/procedures.Beam determination refers to TRxP(s) or UE ability to select of its owntransmission (Tx)/reception (Rx) beam(s). Beam measurement refers to TRPor UE ability to measure characteristics of received beamformed signals.Beam reporting refers the UE ability to report information of beamformedsignal(s) based on beam measurement. Beam sweeping refers tooperation(s) of covering a spatial area, with beams transmitted and/orreceived during a time interval in a predetermined manner.

Tx/Rx beam correspondence at a TRxP holds if at least one of thefollowing conditions are satisfied: TRxP is able to determine a TRxP Rxbeam for the uplink reception based on UE's downlink measurement onTRxP's one or more Tx beams; and TRxP is able to determine a TRxP Txbeam for the downlink transmission based on TRxP's uplink measurement onTRxP's one or more Rx beams. Tx/Rx beam correspondence at a UE holds ifat least one of the following is satisfied: UE is able to determine a UETx beam for the uplink transmission based on UE's downlink measurementon UE's one or more Rx beams; UE is able to determine a UE Rx beam forthe downlink reception based on TRxP's indication based on uplinkmeasurement on UE's one or more Tx beams; and Capability indication ofUE beam correspondence related information to TRxP is supported.

In some implementations, DL beam management includes procedures P-1,P-2, and P-3. Procedure P-1 is used to enable UE measurement ondifferent TRxP Tx beams to support selection of TRxP Tx beams/UE Rxbeam(s). For beamforming at TRxP, procedure P-1 typically includes aintra/inter-TRxP Tx beam sweep from a set of different beams. Forbeamforming at the UE, procedure P-1 typically includes a UE Rx beamsweep from a set of different beams.

Procedure P-2 is used to enable UE measurement on different TRxP Txbeams to possibly change inter/intra-TRxP Tx beam(s). Procedure P-2 maybe a special case of procedure P-1 wherein procedure P-2 is used for apossibly smaller set of beams for beam refinement than procedure P-1.Procedure P-3 is used to enable UE measurement on the same TRxP Tx beamto change UE Rx beam in the case UE uses beamforming. Procedures P-1,P-2, and P-3 may be used for aperiodic beam reporting.

UE measurements based on RS for beam management (at least CSI-RS) iscomposed of K beams (where K is a total number of configured beams), andthe UE reports measurement results of N selected Tx beams (where N mayor may not be a fixed number). The procedure based on RS for mobilitypurpose is not precluded. Beam information that is to be reportedincludes measurement quantities for the N beam(s) and informationindicating N DL Tx beam(s), if N<K. Other information or data may beincluded in or with the beam information. When a UE is configured withK′>1 non-zero power (NZP) CSI-RS resources, a UE can report N′ CSI-RSResource Indicator (CRIs).

In some NR implementations, a UE can trigger a mechanism to recover frombeam failure, which is referred to a “beam recovery”, “beam failurerecovery request procedure”, and/or the like. A beam failure event mayoccur when the quality of beam pair link(s) of an associated controlchannel falls below a threshold, when a time-out of an associated timeroccurs, or the like. The beam recovery mechanism is triggered when beamfailure occurs. The network may explicitly configure the UE withresources for UL transmission of signals for recovery purposes.Configurations of resources are supported where the base station (e.g.,a TRP, gNB, or the like) is listening from all or partial directions(e.g., a random access region). The UL transmission/resources to reportbeam failure can be located in the same time instance as a PhysicalRandom Access Channel (PRACH) or resources orthogonal to PRACHresources, or at a time instance (configurable for a UE) different fromPRACH. Transmission of DL signal is supported for allowing the UE tomonitor the beams for identifying new potential beams.

For beam failure recovery, a beam failure may be declared if one,multiple, or all serving PDCCH beams fail. The beam failure recoveryrequest procedure is initiated when a beam failure is declared. Forexample, the beam failure recovery request procedure may be used forindicating to a serving gNB (or TRP) of a new SSB or CSI-RS when beamfailure is detected on a serving SSB(s)/CSI-RS(s). A beam failure may bedetected by the lower layers and indicated to a Media Access Control(MAC) entity of the UE.

In some implementations, beam management includes providing or notproviding beam-related indications. When beam-related indication isprovided, information pertaining to UE-side beamforming/receivingprocedure used for CSI-RS-based measurement can be indicated through QCLto the UE. The same or different beams on the control channel and thecorresponding data channel transmissions may be supported.

Downlink (DL) beam indications are based on a Transmission ConfigurationIndication (TCI) state(s). The TCI state(s) are indicated in a TCI listthat is configured by radio resource control (RRC) and/or Media AccessControl (MAC) Control Element (CE). In some implementations, a UE can beconfigured up to M TCI-States by higher layer signaling to decode PDSCHaccording to a detected PDCCH with downlink control information (DCI)intended for the UE and the given serving cell where M depends on the UEcapability. Each configured TCI state includes one reference signal (RS)set TCI-RS-SetConfig. Each TCI-RS-SetConfig includes parameters forconfiguring quasi co-location relationship(s) between the RSs in the RSset and the demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) port group of thePDSCH. The RS set includes a reference to either one or two DL RSs andan associated quasi co-location type (QCL-Type) for each DL RS(s)configured by the higher layer parameter QCL-Type. For the case of twoDL RSs, the QCL types shall not be the same, regardless of whether thereferences are to the same DL RS or different DL RSs. The quasico-location types indicated to the UE are based on the higher layerparameter QCL-Type and take one or a combination of the following types:QCL-TypeA: {Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, delay spread};QCL-TypeB: {Doppler shift, Doppler spread}; QCL-TypeC: {average delay,Doppler shift}; QCL-TypeD: {Spatial Rx parameter}.

The UE may receive a selection command (e.g., in a MAC CE), which isused to map up to 8 TCI states to the codepoints of the DCI fieldTCI-states. Until a UE receives higher layer configuration of TCI statesand before reception of the activation command, the UE may assume thatthe antenna ports of one DM-RS port group of PDSCH of a serving cell arespatially quasi co-located with the SSB determined in the initial accessprocedure. When the number of TCI states in TCI-States is less than orequal to 8, the DCI field TCI-states directly indicates the TCI state.

A beam failure recovery request could be delivered over dedicated PRACHor Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) resources. For example, a UEcan be configured, for a serving cell, with a set q ₀ of periodic CSI-RSresource configuration indexes by higher layer parameterBeam-Failure-Detection-RS-ResourceConfig and with a set q ₁ of CSI-RSresource configuration indexes and/or SS/PBCH block indexes by higherlayer parameter Candidate-Beam-RS-List for radio link qualitymeasurements on the serving cell. If there is no configuration, the beamfailure detection could be based on CSI-RS or SSB, which is spatiallyQuasi Co-Located (QCLed) with the PDCCH Demodulation Reference Signal(DMRS). For example, if the UE is not provided with the higher layerparameter Beam-Failure-Detection-RS-ResourceConfig, the UE determines q₀ to include SS/PBCH blocks and periodic CSI-RS configurations with samevalues for higher layer parameter TCI-StatesPDCCH as for controlresource sets (CORESET) that the UE is configured for monitoring PDCCH.

The physical layer of a UE assesses the radio link quality according toa set q ₀ of resource configurations against a threshold Q_(out,LR). Thethreshold Q_(out,LR) corresponds to a default value of higher layerparameter RLM-IS-OOS-thresholdConfig andBeam-failure-candidate-beam-threshold, respectively. For the set q ₀,the UE assesses the radio link quality only according to periodic CSI-RSresource configurations or SS/PBCH blocks that are quasi co-located,with the DM-RS of PDCCH receptions DM-RS monitored by the UE. The UEapplies the configured Q_(in,LR) threshold for the periodic CSI-RSresource configurations. The UE applies the Q_(out,LR) threshold forSS/PBCH blocks after scaling a SS/PBCH block transmission power with avalue provided by higher layer parameter Pc_SS.

In some implementations, if a beam failure indication has been receivedby a MAC entity from lower layers, then the MAC entity starts a beamfailure recovery timer (beamFailureRecoveryTimer) and initiates a RandomAccess procedure. If the beamFailureRecoveryTimer expires, then the MACentity indicates a beam failure recovery request failure to upperlayers. If a DL assignment or UL grant has been received (e.g., on aPDCCH addressed for a cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI)),then the MAC entity may stop and reset beamFailureRecoveryTimer andconsider the beam failure recovery request procedure to be successfullycompleted.

Beam Measurement

In embodiments, a UE (e.g., in RRC_CONNECTED mode) measures one ormultiple beams of a cell and the measurement results (power values) areaveraged to derive the cell quality. The UE may be configured toconsider a subset of the detected beams, such as the N best beams abovean absolute threshold. Filtering takes place at two different levelsinclude at the physical layer (PHY) to derive beam quality and then atthe RRC level to derive cell quality from multiple beams. Cell qualityfrom beam measurements may be derived in the same way for the servingcell(s) and for the non-serving cell(s). Measurement reports contain themeasurement results of the X best beams if the UE is configured to do soby the gNB. For channel state estimation purposes, the UE may beconfigured to measure CSI-RS resources and estimate a downlink channelstate based on the CSI-RS measurements. The UE feeds the estimatedchannel state back to the gNB to be used in link adaptation.

An example measurement model is shown by FIG. 4I. In FIG. 4I, point Aincludes measurements (e.g., beam specific samples) internal to the PHY.Layer 1 (L1) filtering includes internal layer 1 filtering circuitry forfiltering the inputs measured at point A. The exact filtering mechanismsand how the measurements are actually executed at the PHY may beimplementation specific. The measurements (e.g., beam specificmeasurements) are reported by the L1 filtering to layer 3 (L3) beamfiltering circuitry and the beam consolidation/selection circuitry atpoint A¹.

The Beam Consolidation/Selection circuitry includes circuitry where beamspecific measurements are consolidated to derive cell quality. Forexample, if N>1, else when N=1 the best beam measurement may be selectedto derive cell quality. The configuration of the beam is provided by RRCsignaling. A measurement (e.g., cell quality) derived from thebeam-specific measurements are then be reported to L3 filtering for cellquality circuitry after beam consolidation/selection. In someembodiments, the reporting period at point B may be equal to onemeasurement period at point A¹.

The L3 filtering for cell quality circuitry is configured to filter themeasurements provided at point B. The configuration of the Layer 3filters is provided by the aforementioned RRC signaling ordifferent/separate RRC signaling. In some embodiments, the filteringreporting period at point C may be equal to one measurement period atpoint B. A measurement after processing in the layer 3 filter circuitryis provided to the evaluation of reporting criteria circuitry at pointC. In some embodiments, the reporting rate may be identical to thereporting rate at point B. This measurement input may be used for one ormore evaluation of reporting criteria.

Evaluation of reporting criteria circuitry is configured to checkwhether actual measurement reporting is necessary at point D. Theevaluation can be based on more than one flow of measurements atreference point C. In one example, the evaluation may involve acomparison between different measurements, such as a measurementprovided at point C and another measurement provided at point C¹. Inembodiments, the UE may evaluate the reporting criteria at least everytime a new measurement result is reported at point C, C¹. The reportingcriteria configuration is provided by the aforementioned RRC signaling(UE measurements) or different/separate RRC signaling. After theevaluation, measurement report information (e.g., as a message) is senton the radio interface at point D.

Referring back to point A¹, measurements provided at point A¹ areprovided to L3 Beam filtering circuitry, which is configured to performbeam filtering of the provided measurements (e.g., beam specificmeasurements). The configuration of the beam filters is provided by theaforementioned RRC signaling or different/separate RRC signaling. Inembodiments, the filtering reporting period at point E may be equal toone measurement period at A¹. The K beams may correspond to themeasurements on New Radio (NR)-synchronization signal (SS) block (SSB)or Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS) resourcesconfigured for L3 mobility by a gNB and detected by the UE at L1.

After processing in the beam filter measurement (e.g., beam-specificmeasurement), a measurement is provided to beam selection for reportingcircuitry at point E. This measurement is used as an input for selectingthe X measurements to be reported. In embodiments, the reporting ratemay be identical to the reporting rate at point A¹. The beam selectionfor beam reporting circuitry is configured to select the X measurementsfrom the measurements provided at point E. The configuration of thismodule is provided by the aforementioned RRC signaling ordifferent/separate RRC signaling. The beam measurement information to beincluded in a measurement report is sent or scheduled for transmissionon the radio interface at point F.

The measurement reports include a measurement identity of an associatedmeasurement configuration that triggered the reporting. The measurementreports may also include cell and beam measurement quantities to beincluded in measurement reports that are configured by the network(e.g., using RRC signaling). The measurement reports may also includenumber of non-serving cells to be reported can be limited throughconfiguration by the network. Cell(s) belonging to a blacklistconfigured by the network are not used in event evaluation andreporting. By contrast, when a whitelist is configured by the network,only the cells belonging to the whitelist are used in event evaluationand reporting. The beam measurements to be included in measurementreports are configured by the network, and such measurement reportsinclude or indicate a beam identifier only, a measurement result, andbeam identifier, or no beam reporting.

FIG. 5 illustrates an architecture of a system 500 of a network inaccordance with some embodiments. The system 500 is shown to include auser equipment (UE) 501 and a UE 502. The UEs 501 and 502 areillustrated as smartphones (e.g., handheld touchscreen mobile computingdevices connectable to one or more cellular networks), but may alsocomprise any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such as PersonalData Assistants (PDAs), pagers, laptop computers, desktop computers,wireless handsets, or any computing device including a wirelesscommunications interface.

In some embodiments, any of the UEs 501 and 502 can comprise an Internetof Things (IoT) UE, which can comprise a network access layer designedfor low-power IoT applications utilizing short-lived UE connections. AnIoT UE can utilize technologies such as machine-to-machine (M2M) ormachine-type communications (MTC) for exchanging data with an MTC serveror device via a public land mobile network (PLMN), Proximity-BasedService (ProSe) or device-to-device (D2D) communication, sensornetworks, or IoT networks. The M2M or MTC exchange of data may be amachine-initiated exchange of data. An IoT network describesinterconnecting IoT UEs, which may include uniquely identifiableembedded computing devices (within the Internet infrastructure), withshort-lived connections. The IoT UEs may execute background applications(e.g., keep-alive messages, status updates, etc.) to facilitate theconnections of the IoT network.

The UEs 501 and 502 may be configured to connect, e.g., communicativelycouple, with a radio access network (RAN) 510—the RAN 510 may be, forexample, an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS)Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), a NextGen RAN (NG RAN), orsome other type of RAN. The UEs 501 and 502 utilize connections 503 and504, respectively, each of which comprises a physical communicationsinterface or layer (discussed in further detail below); in this example,the connections 503 and 504 are illustrated as an air interface toenable communicative coupling, and can be consistent with cellularcommunications protocols, such as a Global System for MobileCommunications (GSM) protocol, a code-division multiple access (CDMA)network protocol, a Push-to-Talk (PTT) protocol, a PTT over Cellular(POC) protocol, a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS)protocol, a 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) protocol, a fifth generation(5G) protocol, a New Radio (NR) protocol, and the like.

In this embodiment, the UEs 501 and 502 may further directly exchangecommunication data via a ProSe interface 505. The ProSe interface 505may alternatively be referred to as a sidelink interface comprising oneor more logical channels, including but not limited to a PhysicalSidelink Control Channel (PSCCH), a Physical Sidelink Shared Channel(PSSCH), a Physical Sidelink Discovery Channel (PSDCH), and a PhysicalSidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH).

The UE 502 is shown to be configured to access an access point (AP) 506via connection 507. The connection 507 can comprise a local wirelessconnection, such as a connection consistent with any IEEE 802.11protocol, wherein the AP 506 would comprise a wireless fidelity (WiFi®)router. In this example, the AP 506 is shown to be connected to theInternet without connecting to the core network of the wireless system(described in further detail below).

The RAN 510 can include one or more access nodes that enable theconnections 503 and 504. These access nodes (ANs) can be referred to asbase stations (BSs), NodeBs, evolved NodeBs (eNBs), next GenerationNodeBs (gNB), RAN nodes, and so forth, and can comprise ground stations(e.g., terrestrial access points) or satellite stations providingcoverage within a geographic area (e.g., a cell). The RAN 510 mayinclude one or more RAN nodes for providing macrocells, e.g., macro RANnode 511, and one or more RAN nodes for providing femtocells orpicocells (e.g., cells having smaller coverage areas, smaller usercapacity, or higher bandwidth compared to macrocells), e.g., low power(LP) RAN node 512.

Any of the RAN nodes 511 and 512 can terminate the air interfaceprotocol and can be the first point of contact for the UEs 501 and 502.In some embodiments, any of the RAN nodes 511 and 512 can fulfillvarious logical functions for the RAN 510 including, but not limited to,radio network controller (RNC) functions such as radio bearermanagement, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management anddata packet scheduling, and mobility management.

In accordance with some embodiments, the UEs 501 and 502 can beconfigured to communicate using Orthogonal Frequency-DivisionMultiplexing (OFDM) communication signals with each other or with any ofthe RAN nodes 511 and 512 over a multicarrier communication channel inaccordance various communication techniques, such as, but not limitedto, an Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA)communication technique (e.g., for downlink communications) or a SingleCarrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) communicationtechnique (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelink communications),although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.The OFDM signals can comprise a plurality of orthogonal subcarriers.

In some embodiments, a downlink resource grid can be used for downlinktransmissions from any of the RAN nodes 511 and 512 to the UEs 501 and502, while uplink transmissions can utilize similar techniques. The gridcan be a time-frequency grid, called a resource grid or time-frequencyresource grid, which is the physical resource in the downlink in eachslot. Such a time-frequency plane representation is a common practicefor OFDM systems, which makes it intuitive for radio resourceallocation. Each column and each row of the resource grid corresponds toone OFDM symbol and one OFDM subcarrier, respectively. The duration ofthe resource grid in the time domain corresponds to one slot in a radioframe. The smallest time-frequency unit in a resource grid is denoted asa resource element. Each resource grid comprises a number of resourceblocks, which describe the mapping of certain physical channels toresource elements. Each resource block comprises a collection ofresource elements; in the frequency domain, this may represent thesmallest quantity of resources that currently can be allocated. Thereare several different physical downlink channels that are conveyed usingsuch resource blocks.

The physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) may carry user data andhigher-layer signaling to the UEs 501 and 502. The physical downlinkcontrol channel (PDCCH) may carry information about the transport formatand resource allocations related to the PDSCH channel, among otherthings. It may also inform the UEs 501 and 502 about the transportformat, resource allocation, and H-ARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request)information related to the uplink shared channel. Typically, downlinkscheduling (assigning control and shared channel resource blocks to theUE 502 within a cell) may be performed at any of the RAN nodes 511 and512 based on channel quality information fed back from any of the UEs501 and 502. The downlink resource assignment information may be sent onthe PDCCH used for (e.g., assigned to) each of the UEs 501 and 502.

The PDCCH may use control channel elements (CCEs) to convey the controlinformation. Before being mapped to resource elements, the PDCCHcomplex-valued symbols may first be organized into quadruplets, whichmay then be permuted using a sub-block interleaver for rate matching.Each PDCCH may be transmitted using one or more of these CCEs, whereeach CCE may correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elementsknown as resource element groups (REGs). Four Quadrature Phase ShiftKeying (QPSK) symbols may be mapped to each REG. The PDCCH can betransmitted using one or more CCEs, depending on the size of thedownlink control information (DCI) and the channel condition. There canbe four or more different PDCCH formats defined in LTE with differentnumbers of CCEs (e.g., aggregation level, L=1, 2, 4, or 8).

Some embodiments may use concepts for resource allocation for controlchannel information that are an extension of the above-describedconcepts. For example, some embodiments may utilize an enhanced physicaldownlink control channel (EPDCCH) that uses PDSCH resources for controlinformation transmission. The EPDCCH may be transmitted using one ormore enhanced control channel elements (ECCEs). Similar to above, eachECCE may correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elementsknown as enhanced resource element groups (EREGs). An ECCE may haveother numbers of EREGs in some situations.

The RAN 510 is shown to be communicatively coupled to a core network(CN) 520—via an S1 interface 513. In embodiments, the CN 520 may be anevolved packet core (EPC) network, a NextGen Packet Core (NPC) network,or some other type of CN. In this embodiment, the S1 interface 513 issplit into two parts: the S1-U interface 514, which carries traffic databetween the RAN nodes 511 and 512 and the serving gateway (S-GW) 522,and the S1-mobility management entity (MME) interface 515, which is asignaling interface between the RAN nodes 511 and 512 and MMEs 521.

In this embodiment, the CN 520 comprises the MMEs 521, the S-GW 522, thePacket Data Network (PDN) Gateway (P-GW) 523, and a home subscriberserver (HSS) 524. The MMEs 521 may be similar in function to the controlplane of legacy Serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) SupportNodes (SGSN). The MMEs 521 may manage mobility aspects in access such asgateway selection and tracking area list management. The HSS 524 maycomprise a database for network users, including subscription-relatedinformation to support the network entities' handling of communicationsessions. The CN 520 may comprise one or several HSSs 524, depending onthe number of mobile subscribers, on the capacity of the equipment, onthe organization of the network, etc. For example, the HSS 524 canprovide support for routing/roaming, authentication, authorization,naming/addressing resolution, location dependencies, etc.

The S-GW 522 may terminate the S1 interface 513 towards the RAN 510, androutes data packets between the RAN 510 and the CN 520. In addition, theS-GW 522 may be a local mobility anchor point for inter-RAN nodehandovers and also may provide an anchor for inter-3GPP mobility. Otherresponsibilities may include lawful intercept, charging, and some policyenforcement.

The P-GW 523 may terminate an SGi interface toward a PDN. The P-GW 523may route data packets between the EPC network and external networkssuch as a network including the application server 530 (alternativelyreferred to as application function (AF)) via an Internet Protocol (IP)interface 525. Generally, the application server 530 may be an elementoffering applications that use IP bearer resources with the core network(e.g., UMTS Packet Services (PS) domain, LTE PS data services, etc.). Inthis embodiment, the P-GW 523 is shown to be communicatively coupled toan application server 530 via an IP communications interface 525. Theapplication server 530 can also be configured to support one or morecommunication services (e.g., Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP)sessions, PTT sessions, group communication sessions, social networkingservices, etc.) for the UEs 501 and 502 via the CN 520.

The P-GW 523 may further be a node for policy enforcement and chargingdata collection. Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCRF) 526 isthe policy and charging control element of the CN 520. In a non-roamingscenario, there may be a single PCRF in the Home Public Land MobileNetwork (HPLMN) associated with a UE's Internet Protocol ConnectivityAccess Network (IP-CAN) session. In a roaming scenario with localbreakout of traffic, there may be two PCRFs associated with a UE'sIP-CAN session: a Home PCRF (H-PCRF) within a HPLMN and a Visited PCRF(V-PCRF) within a Visited Public Land Mobile Network (VPLMN). The PCRF526 may be communicatively coupled to the application server 530 via theP-GW 523. The application server 530 may signal the PCRF 526 to indicatea new service flow and select the appropriate Quality of Service (QoS)and charging parameters. The PCRF 526 may provision this rule into aPolicy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF) (not shown) with theappropriate traffic flow template (TFT) and QoS class of identifier(QCI), which commences the QoS and charging as specified by theapplication server 530.

FIG. 6 illustrates example components of a device 600 in accordance withsome embodiments. In some embodiments, the device 600 may includeapplication circuitry 602, baseband circuitry 604, Radio Frequency (RF)circuitry 606, front-end module (FEM) circuitry 608, one or moreantennas 610, and power management circuitry (PMC) 612 coupled togetherat least as shown. The components of the illustrated device 600 may beincluded in a UE or a RAN node. In some embodiments, the device 600 mayinclude fewer elements (e.g., a RAN node may not utilize applicationcircuitry 602, and instead include a processor/controller to process IPdata received from an EPC). In some embodiments, the device 600 mayinclude additional elements such as, for example, memory/storage,display, camera, sensor, or input/output (I/O) interface. In otherembodiments, the components described below may be included in more thanone device (e.g., said circuitries may be separately included in morethan one device for Cloud-RAN (C-RAN) implementations).

The application circuitry 602 may include one or more applicationprocessors. For example, the application circuitry 602 may includecircuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core ormulti-core processors. The processor(s) may include any combination ofgeneral-purpose processors and dedicated processors (e.g., graphicsprocessors, application processors, etc.). The processors may be coupledwith or may include memory/storage and may be configured to executeinstructions stored in the memory/storage to enable various applicationsor operating systems to run on the device 600. In some embodiments,processors of application circuitry 602 may process IP data packetsreceived from an EPC.

The baseband circuitry 604 may include circuitry such as, but notlimited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. Thebaseband circuitry 604 may include one or more baseband processors orcontrol logic to process baseband signals received from a receive signalpath of the RF circuitry 606 and to generate baseband signals for atransmit signal path of the RF circuitry 606. Baseband processingcircuitry 604 may interface with the application circuitry 602 forgeneration and processing of the baseband signals and for controllingoperations of the RF circuitry 606. For example, in some embodiments,the baseband circuitry 604 may include a third generation (3G) basebandprocessor 604A, a fourth generation (4G) baseband processor 604B, afifth generation (5G) baseband processor 604C, or other basebandprocessor(s) 604D for other existing generations, generations indevelopment or to be developed in the future (e.g., second generation(2G), sixth generation (6G), etc.). The baseband circuitry 604 (e.g.,one or more of baseband processors 604A-D) may handle various radiocontrol functions that enable communication with one or more radionetworks via the RF circuitry 606. In other embodiments, some or all ofthe functionality of baseband processors 604A-D may be included inmodules stored in the memory 604G and executed via a Central ProcessingUnit (CPU) 604E. The radio control functions may include, but are notlimited to, signal modulation/demodulation, encoding/decoding, radiofrequency shifting, etc. In some embodiments, modulation/demodulationcircuitry of the baseband circuitry 604 may include Fast-FourierTransform (FFT), precoding, or constellation mapping/demappingfunctionality. In some embodiments, encoding/decoding circuitry of thebaseband circuitry 604 may include convolution, tail-biting convolution,turbo, Viterbi, or Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) encoder/decoderfunctionality. Embodiments of modulation/demodulation andencoder/decoder functionality are not limited to these examples and mayinclude other suitable functionality in other embodiments.

In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 604 may include one or moreaudio digital signal processor(s) (DSP) 604F. The audio DSP(s) 604F maybe include elements for compression/decompression and echo cancellationand may include other suitable processing elements in other embodiments.Components of the baseband circuitry may be suitably combined in asingle chip, a single chipset, or disposed on a same circuit board insome embodiments. In some embodiments, some or all of the constituentcomponents of the baseband circuitry 604 and the application circuitry602 may be implemented together such as, for example, on a system on achip (SOC).

In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 604 may provide forcommunication compatible with one or more radio technologies. Forexample, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 604 may supportcommunication with an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network(EUTRAN) or other wireless metropolitan area networks (WMAN), a wirelesslocal area network (WLAN), a wireless personal area network (WPAN).Embodiments in which the baseband circuitry 604 is configured to supportradio communications of more than one wireless protocol may be referredto as multi-mode baseband circuitry.

RF circuitry 606 may enable communication with wireless networks usingmodulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. Invarious embodiments, the RF circuitry 606 may include switches, filters,amplifiers, etc. to facilitate the communication with the wirelessnetwork. RF circuitry 606 may include a receive signal path which mayinclude circuitry to down-convert RF signals received from the FEMcircuitry 608 and provide baseband signals to the baseband circuitry604. RF circuitry 606 may also include a transmit signal path which mayinclude circuitry to up-convert baseband signals provided by thebaseband circuitry 604 and provide RF output signals to the FEMcircuitry 608 for transmission.

In some embodiments, the receive signal path of the RF circuitry 606 mayinclude mixer circuitry 606 a, amplifier circuitry 606 b and filtercircuitry 606 c. In some embodiments, the transmit signal path of the RFcircuitry 606 may include filter circuitry 606 c and mixer circuitry 606a. RF circuitry 606 may also include synthesizer circuitry 606 d forsynthesizing a frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 606 a of thereceive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some embodiments,the mixer circuitry 606 a of the receive signal path may be configuredto down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 608 based onthe synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuitry 606 d. Theamplifier circuitry 606 b may be configured to amplify thedown-converted signals and the filter circuitry 606 c may be a low-passfilter (LPF) or band-pass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwantedsignals from the down-converted signals to generate output basebandsignals. Output baseband signals may be provided to the basebandcircuitry 604 for further processing. In some embodiments, the outputbaseband signals may be zero-frequency baseband signals, although thisis not a requirement. In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 606 a of thereceive signal path may comprise passive mixers, although the scope ofthe embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 606 a of the transmit signalpath may be configured to up-convert input baseband signals based on thesynthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuitry 606 d togenerate RF output signals for the FEM circuitry 608. The basebandsignals may be provided by the baseband circuitry 604 and may befiltered by filter circuitry 606 c.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 606 a of the receive signalpath and the mixer circuitry 606 a of the transmit signal path mayinclude two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadraturedownconversion and upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, themixer circuitry 606 a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry606 a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and maybe arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In someembodiments, the mixer circuitry 606 a of the receive signal path andthe mixer circuitry 606 a of the transmit signal path may be arrangedfor direct downconversion and direct upconversion, respectively. In someembodiments, the mixer circuitry 606 a of the receive signal path andthe mixer circuitry 606 a of the transmit signal path may be configuredfor super-heterodyne operation.

In some embodiments, the output baseband signals and the input basebandsignals may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of theembodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternateembodiments, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signalsmay be digital baseband signals. In these alternate embodiments, the RFcircuitry 606 may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) anddigital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry and the baseband circuitry604 may include a digital baseband interface to communicate with the RFcircuitry 606.

In some dual-mode embodiments, a separate radio IC circuitry may beprovided for processing signals for each spectrum, although the scope ofthe embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 606 d may be afractional-N synthesizer or a fractional N/N+1 synthesizer, although thescope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect as other typesof frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, synthesizercircuitry 606 d may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequencymultiplier, or a synthesizer comprising a phase-locked loop with afrequency divider.

The synthesizer circuitry 606 d may be configured to synthesize anoutput frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 606 a of the RFcircuitry 606 based on a frequency input and a divider control input. Insome embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 606 d may be a fractionalN/N+1 synthesizer.

In some embodiments, frequency input may be provided by a voltagecontrolled oscillator (VCO), although that is not a requirement. Dividercontrol input may be provided by either the baseband circuitry 604 orthe applications processor 602 depending on the desired outputfrequency. In some embodiments, a divider control input (e.g., N) may bedetermined from a look-up table based on a channel indicated by theapplications processor 602.

Synthesizer circuitry 606 d of the RF circuitry 606 may include adivider, a delay-locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer and a phaseaccumulator. In some embodiments, the divider may be a dual modulusdivider (DMD) and the phase accumulator may be a digital phaseaccumulator (DPA). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured todivide the input signal by either N or N+1 (e.g., based on a carry out)to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, theDLL may include a set of cascaded, tunable, delay elements, a phasedetector, a charge pump and a D-type flip-flop. In these embodiments,the delay elements may be configured to break a VCO period up into Ndequal packets of phase, where Nd is the number of delay elements in thedelay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to helpensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.

In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry 606 d may be configured togenerate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in otherembodiments, the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrierfrequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrierfrequency) and used in conjunction with quadrature generator and dividercircuitry to generate multiple signals at the carrier frequency withmultiple different phases with respect to each other. In someembodiments, the output frequency may be a LO frequency (fLO). In someembodiments, the RF circuitry 606 may include an IQ/polar converter.

FEM circuitry 608 may include a receive signal path, which may includecircuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from one or moreantennas 610, amplify the received signals and provide the amplifiedversions of the received signals to the RF circuitry 606 for furtherprocessing. FEM circuitry 608 may also include a transmit signal path,which may include circuitry configured to amplify signals fortransmission provided by the RF circuitry 606 for transmission by one ormore of the one or more antennas 610. In various embodiments, theamplification through the transmit or receive signal paths may be donesolely in the RF circuitry 606, solely in the FEM 608, or in both the RFcircuitry 606 and the FEM 608.

In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry 608 may include a TX/RX switch toswitch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEMcircuitry 608 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signalpath. The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry 608 may include a lownoise amplifier (LNA) to amplify received RF signals and provide theamplified received RF signals as an output (e.g., to the RF circuitry606). The transmit signal path of the FEM circuitry 608 may include apower amplifier (PA) to amplify input RF signals (e.g., provided by RFcircuitry 606), and one or more filters to generate RF signals forsubsequent transmission (e.g., by one or more of the one or moreantennas 610).

In some embodiments, the PMC 612 may manage power provided to thebaseband circuitry 604. In particular, the PMC 612 may controlpower-source selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-to-DCconversion. The PMC 612 may often be included when the device 600 iscapable of being powered by a battery, for example, when the device isincluded in a UE. The PMC 612 may increase the power conversionefficiency while providing desirable implementation size and heatdissipation characteristics.

FIG. 6 shows the PMC 612 coupled only with the baseband circuitry 604.However, in other embodiments, the PMC 612 may be additionally oralternatively coupled with, and perform similar power managementoperations for, other components such as, but not limited to,application circuitry 602, RF circuitry 606, or FEM 608.

In some embodiments, the PMC 612 may control, or otherwise be part of,various power saving mechanisms of the device 600. For example, if thedevice 600 is in an RRC_Connected state, where it is still connected tothe RAN node as it expects to receive traffic shortly, then it may entera state known as Discontinuous Reception Mode (DRX) after a period ofinactivity. During this state, the device 600 may power down for briefintervals of time and thus save power.

If there is no data traffic activity for an extended period of time,then the device 600 may transition off to an RRC_Idle state, where itdisconnects from the network and does not perform operations such aschannel quality feedback, handover, etc. The device 600 goes into a verylow power state and it performs paging where again it periodically wakesup to listen to the network and then powers down again. The device 600may not receive data in this state, in order to receive data, it musttransition back to RRC_Connected state.

An additional power saving mode may allow a device to be unavailable tothe network for periods longer than a paging interval (ranging fromseconds to a few hours). During this time, the device is totallyunreachable to the network and may power down completely. Any data sentduring this time incurs a large delay and it is assumed the delay isacceptable.

Processors of the application circuitry 602 and processors of thebaseband circuitry 604 may be used to execute elements of one or moreinstances of a protocol stack. For example, processors of the basebandcircuitry 604, alone or in combination, may be used to execute Layer 3,Layer 2, or Layer 1 functionality, while processors of the applicationcircuitry 602 may utilize data (e.g., packet data) received from theselayers and further execute Layer 4 functionality (e.g., transmissioncommunication protocol (TCP) and user datagram protocol (UDP) layers).As referred to herein, Layer 3 may comprise a radio resource control(RRC) layer, described in further detail below. As referred to herein,Layer 2 may comprise a medium access control (MAC) layer, a radio linkcontrol (RLC) layer, and a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP)layer, described in further detail below. As referred to herein, Layer 1may comprise a physical (PHY) layer of a UE/RAN node, described infurther detail below.

FIG. 7 illustrates example interfaces of baseband circuitry inaccordance with some embodiments. As discussed above, the basebandcircuitry 604 of FIG. 6 may comprise processors 604A-604E and a memory604G utilized by said processors. Each of the processors 604A-604E mayinclude a memory interface, 704A-704E, respectively, to send/receivedata to/from the memory 604G.

The baseband circuitry 604 may further include one or more interfaces tocommunicatively couple to other circuitries/devices, such as a memoryinterface 712 (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from memoryexternal to the baseband circuitry 604), an application circuitryinterface 714 (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from theapplication circuitry 602 of FIG. 6), an RF circuitry interface 716(e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from RF circuitry 606 ofFIG. 6), a wireless hardware connectivity interface 718 (e.g., aninterface to send/receive data to/from Near Field Communication (NFC)components, Bluetooth® components (e.g., Bluetooth® Low Energy), Wi-Fi®components, and other communication components), and a power managementinterface 720 (e.g., an interface to send/receive power or controlsignals to/from the PMC 612.

FIG. 8 is an illustration of a control plane protocol stack inaccordance with some embodiments. In this embodiment, a control plane800 is shown as a communications protocol stack between the UE 501 (oralternatively, the UE 502), the RAN node 511 (or alternatively, the RANnode 512), and the MME 521.

The PHY layer 801 may transmit or receive information used by the MAClayer 802 over one or more air interfaces. The PHY layer 801 may furtherperform link adaptation or adaptive modulation and coding (AMC), powercontrol, cell search (e.g., for initial synchronization and handoverpurposes), and other measurements used by higher layers, such as the RRClayer 805. The PHY layer 801 may still further perform error detectionon the transport channels, forward error correction (FEC)coding/decoding of the transport channels, modulation/demodulation ofphysical channels, interleaving, rate matching, mapping onto physicalchannels, and Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) antenna processing.

The MAC layer 802 may perform mapping between logical channels andtransport channels, multiplexing of MAC service data units (SDUs) fromone or more logical channels onto transport blocks (TB) to be deliveredto PHY via transport channels, de-multiplexing MAC SDUs to one or morelogical channels from transport blocks (TB) delivered from the PHY viatransport channels, multiplexing MAC SDUs onto TBs, schedulinginformation reporting, error correction through hybrid automatic repeatrequest (HARD), and logical channel prioritization.

The RLC layer 803 may operate in a plurality of modes of operation,including: Transparent Mode (TM), Unacknowledged Mode (UM), andAcknowledged Mode (AM). The RLC layer 803 may execute transfer of upperlayer protocol data units (PDUs), error correction through automaticrepeat request (ARQ) for AM data transfers, and concatenation,segmentation and reassembly of RLC SDUs for UM and AM data transfers.The RLC layer 803 may also execute re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs forAM data transfers, reorder RLC data PDUs for UM and AM data transfers,detect duplicate data for UM and AM data transfers, discard RLC SDUs forUM and AM data transfers, detect protocol errors for AM data transfers,and perform RLC re-establishment.

The PDCP layer 804 may execute header compression and decompression ofIP data, maintain PDCP Sequence Numbers (SNs), perform in-sequencedelivery of upper layer PDUs at re-establishment of lower layers,eliminate duplicates of lower layer SDUs at re-establishment of lowerlayers for radio bearers mapped on RLC AM, cipher and decipher controlplane data, perform integrity protection and integrity verification ofcontrol plane data, control timer-based discard of data, and performsecurity operations (e.g., ciphering, deciphering, integrity protection,integrity verification, etc.).

The main services and functions of the RRC layer 805 may includebroadcast of system information (e.g., included in Master InformationBlocks (MIBs) or System Information Blocks (SIBs) related to thenon-access stratum (NAS)), broadcast of system information related tothe access stratum (AS), paging, establishment, maintenance and releaseof an RRC connection between the UE and E-UTRAN (e.g., RRC connectionpaging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, andRRC connection release), establishment, configuration, maintenance andrelease of point to point Radio Bearers, security functions includingkey management, inter radio access technology (RAT) mobility, andmeasurement configuration for UE measurement reporting. Said MIBs andSIBs may comprise one or more information elements (IEs), which may eachcomprise individual data fields or data structures.

The UE 501 and the RAN node 511 may utilize a Uu interface (e.g., anLTE-Uu interface) to exchange control plane data via a protocol stackcomprising the PHY layer 801, the MAC layer 802, the RLC layer 803, thePDCP layer 804, and the RRC layer 805.

The non-access stratum (NAS) protocols 806 form the highest stratum ofthe control plane between the UE 501 and the MME 521. The NAS protocols806 support the mobility of the UE 501 and the session managementprocedures to establish and maintain IP connectivity between the UE 501and the P-GW 523.

The S1 Application Protocol (S1-AP) layer 815 may support the functionsof the S1 interface and comprise Elementary Procedures (EPs). An EP is aunit of interaction between the RAN node 511 and the CN 520. The S1-APlayer services may comprise two groups: UE-associated services andnon-UE-associated services. These services perform functions including,but not limited to: E-UTRAN Radio Access Bearer (E-RAB) management, UEcapability indication, mobility, NAS signaling transport, RANInformation Management (RIM), and configuration transfer.

The Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP) layer (alternativelyreferred to as the SCTP/IP layer) 814 may ensure reliable delivery ofsignaling messages between the RAN node 511 and the MME 521 based, inpart, on the IP protocol, supported by the IP layer 813. The L2 layer812 and the L1 layer 811 may refer to communication links (e.g., wiredor wireless) used by the RAN node and the MME to exchange information.

The RAN node 511 and the MME 521 may utilize an S1-MME interface toexchange control plane data via a protocol stack comprising the L1 layer811, the L2 layer 812, the IP layer 813, the SCTP layer 814, and theS1-AP layer 815.

FIG. 9 is an illustration of a user plane protocol stack in accordancewith some embodiments. In this embodiment, a user plane 900 is shown asa communications protocol stack between the UE 501 (or alternatively,the UE 502), the RAN node 511 (or alternatively, the RAN node 512), theS-GW 522, and the P-GW 523. The user plane 900 may utilize at least someof the same protocol layers as the control plane 800. For example, theUE 501 and the RAN node 511 may utilize a Uu interface (e.g., an LTE-Uuinterface) to exchange user plane data via a protocol stack comprisingthe PHY layer 801, the MAC layer 802, the RLC layer 803, the PDCP layer804.

The General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Tunneling Protocol for the userplane (GTP-U) layer 904 may be used for carrying user data within theGPRS core network and between the radio access network and the corenetwork. The user data transported can be packets in any of IPv4, IPv6,or PPP formats, for example. The UDP and IP security (UDP/IP) layer 913may provide checksums for data integrity, port numbers for addressingdifferent functions at the source and destination, and encryption andauthentication on the selected data flows. The RAN node 511 and the S-GW522 may utilize an S1-U interface to exchange user plane data via aprotocol stack comprising the L1 layer 811, the L2 layer 812, the UDP/IPlayer 913, and the GTP-U layer 904. The S-GW 522 and the P-GW 523 mayutilize an S5/S8a interface to exchange user plane data via a protocolstack comprising the L1 layer 811, the L2 layer 812, the UDP/IP layer913, and the GTP-U layer 904. As discussed above with respect to FIG. 8,NAS protocols support the mobility of the UE 501 and the sessionmanagement procedures to establish and maintain IP connectivity betweenthe UE 501 and the P-GW 523.

FIG. 10 illustrates components of a core network in accordance with someembodiments. The components of the CN 520 may be implemented in onephysical node or separate physical nodes including components to readand execute instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readablemedium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium). In someembodiments, Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) is utilized tovirtualize any or all of the above described network node functions viaexecutable instructions stored in one or more computer readable storagemediums (described in further detail below). A logical instantiation ofthe CN 520 may be referred to as a network slice 1001. A logicalinstantiation of a portion of the CN 520 may be referred to as a networksub-slice 1002 (e.g., the network sub-slice 1002 is shown to include thePGW 523 and the PCRF 526).

NFV architectures and infrastructures may be used to virtualize one ormore network functions, alternatively performed by proprietary hardware,onto physical resources comprising a combination of industry-standardserver hardware, storage hardware, or switches. In other words, NFVsystems can be used to execute virtual or reconfigurable implementationsof one or more EPC components/functions.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating components, according to someexample embodiments, of a system 1100 to support NFV. The system 1100 isillustrated as including a virtualized infrastructure manager (VIM)1102, a network function virtualization infrastructure (NFVI) 1104, aVNF manager (VNFM) 1106, virtualized network functions (VNFs) 1108, anelement manager (EM) 1110, an NFV Orchestrator (NFVO) 1112, and anetwork manager (NM) 1114.

The VIM 1102 manages the resources of the NFVI 1104. The NFVI 1104 caninclude physical or virtual resources and applications (includinghypervisors) used to execute the system 1100. The VIM 1102 may managethe life cycle of virtual resources with the NFVI 1104 (e.g., creation,maintenance, and tear down of virtual machines (VMs) associated with oneor more physical resources), track VM instances, track performance,fault and security of VM instances and associated physical resources,and expose VM instances and associated physical resources to othermanagement systems.

The VNFM 1106 may manage the VNFs 1108. The VNFs 1108 may be used toexecute EPC components/functions. The VNFM 1106 may manage the lifecycle of the VNFs 1108 and track performance, fault and security of thevirtual aspects of VNFs 1108. The EM 1110 may track the performance,fault and security of the functional aspects of VNFs 1108. The trackingdata from the VNFM 1106 and the EM 1110 may comprise, for example,performance measurement (PM) data used by the VIM 1102 or the NFVI 1104.Both the VNFM 1106 and the EM 1110 can scale up/down the quantity ofVNFs of the system 1100.

The NFVO 1112 may coordinate, authorize, release and engage resources ofthe NFVI 1104 in order to provide the requested service (e.g., toexecute an EPC function, component, or slice). The NM 1114 may provide apackage of end-user functions with the responsibility for the managementof a network, which may include network elements with VNFs,non-virtualized network functions, or both (management of the VNFs mayoccur via the EM 1110).

FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating components, according to someexample embodiments, able to read instructions from a machine-readableor computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readablestorage medium) and perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein. Specifically, FIG. 12 shows a diagrammaticrepresentation of hardware resources 1200 including one or moreprocessors (or processor cores) 1210, one or more memory/storage devices1220, and one or more communication resources 1230, each of which may becommunicatively coupled via a bus 1240. For embodiments where nodevirtualization (e.g., NFV) is utilized, a hypervisor 1202 may beexecuted to provide an execution environment for one or more networkslices/sub-slices to utilize the hardware resources 1200.

The processors 1210 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a reducedinstruction set computing (RISC) processor, a complex instruction setcomputing (CISC) processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a digitalsignal processor (DSP) such as a baseband processor, an applicationspecific integrated circuit (ASIC), a radio-frequency integrated circuit(RFIC), another processor, or any suitable combination thereof) mayinclude, for example, a processor 1212 and a processor 1214.

The memory/storage devices 1220 may include main memory, disk storage,or any suitable combination thereof. The memory/storage devices 1220 mayinclude, but are not limited to, any type of volatile or non-volatilememory such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random-accessmemory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM),electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), Flashmemory, solid-state storage, etc.

The communication resources 1230 may include interconnection or networkinterface components or other suitable devices to communicate with oneor more peripheral devices 1204 or one or more databases 1206 via anetwork 1208. For example, the communication resources 1230 may includewired communication components (e.g., for coupling via a UniversalSerial Bus (USB)), cellular communication components, NFC components,Bluetooth® components (e.g., Bluetooth® Low Energy), Wi-Fi® components,and other communication components.

Instructions 1250 may comprise software, a program, an application, anapplet, an app, or other executable code for causing at least any of theprocessors 1210 to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein. The instructions 1250 may reside, completely orpartially, within at least one of the processors 1210 (e.g., within theprocessor's cache memory), the memory/storage devices 1220, or anysuitable combination thereof. Furthermore, any portion of theinstructions 1250 may be transferred to the hardware resources 1200 fromany combination of the peripheral devices 1204 or the databases 1206.Accordingly, the memory of processors 1210, the memory/storage devices1220, the peripheral devices 1204, and the databases 1206 are examplesof computer-readable and machine-readable media.

In various embodiments, the devices/components of FIGS. 5, 6, 8, 9, 10,11, 12, and particularly the baseband circuitry of FIG. 7, may be usedfor: retrieving panel index information from memory, the panel indexinformation to indicate an antenna port group that a user equipment (UE)is to use for a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) signal;generating a message that includes the panel index information; andencoding the message for transmission to the UE. The devices/componentsof FIGS. 5-12 may also be used to practice, in whole or in part, any ofthe operation flow/algorithmic structures depicted in FIGS. 1-3.

One example of an operation flow/algorithmic structure is depicted inFIG. 1, which may be performed by a next-generation NodeB (gNB) inaccordance with some embodiments. In this example, operationflow/algorithmic structure 100 may include, at 105, retrieving panelindex information from memory, the panel index information to indicatean antenna port group that a user equipment (UE) is to use for aphysical uplink control channel (PUCCH) signal or a physical uplinkshared channel (PUSCH). Operation flow/algorithmic structure 100 mayfurther include, at 110, generating a message that includes the panelindex information. Operation flow/algorithmic structure 100 may furtherinclude, at 115, encoding the message for transmission to the UE.

Another example of an operation flow/algorithmic structure is depictedin FIG. 2, which may be performed by UE in accordance with someembodiments. In this example, operation flow/algorithmic structure 200may include, at 205, receiving a configuration message that includespanel index information to indicate an antenna port group of the UE fortransmitting a message, wherein the message is a physical uplink controlchannel (PUCCH) message or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)message. Operation flow/algorithmic structure 200 may further include,at 210, encoding the PUCCH message for transmission in accordance withthe panel index information.

Another example of an operation flow/algorithmic structure is depictedin FIG. 3, which may be performed by gNB in accordance with someembodiments. In this example, operation flow/algorithmic structure 300may include, at 305, generating a configuration message that includespanel index information indicating an antenna port group for a userequipment (UE) for transmitting via physical uplink control channel(PUCCH) or physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). Operationflow/algorithmic structure 300 may further include, at 310, encoding theconfiguration message for transmission to the UE.

EXAMPLES

Some non-limiting examples are provided below.

Example 1 includes an apparatus comprising: memory to store panel indexinformation to indicate an antenna port group that a user equipment (UE)is to use for a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) signal or aphysical uplink shared channel (PUSCH); and processing circuitry,coupled with the memory, to: retrieve the panel index information fromthe memory; generate a message that includes the panel indexinformation; and encode the message for transmission to the UE.

Example 2 includes the apparatus of example 1 and/or some other examplesherein, wherein the processing circuitry is further to receive, from theUE, the PUCCH signal or the PUSCH signal in accordance with the panelindex information.

Example 3 includes the apparatus of example 1 and/or some other examplesherein, wherein the message is to be transmitted via radio resourcecontrol (RRC) signaling or medium access layer (MAC) Control Element(CE) signaling.

Example 4 includes the apparatus of example 1 and/or some other examplesherein, wherein the processing circuitry is to derive the panel indexfrom a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource.

Example 5 includes the apparatus of example 1 and/or some other examplesherein, wherein the panel index information is to indicate a maximumnumber of beams that can be simultaneously transmitted by the UE.

Example 6 includes the apparatus of example 1 and/or some other examplesherein, wherein the panel index information is to indicate a soundingreference signal (SRS) resource, a synchronization signal block (SSB)resource, or a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS)resource.

Example 7 includes the apparatus of example 1 and/or some other examplesherein, wherein the panel index information is to indicate a respectivepower control parameter for each respective panel.

Example 8 includes one or more non-transitory, computer-readable mediastoring instructions, that, when executed by one or more processors,cause a user equipment (UE) to: receive a configuration message thatincludes panel index information to indicate an antenna port group ofthe UE for transmitting a message, wherein the message is a physicaluplink control channel (PUCCH) message or a physical uplink sharedchannel (PUSCH) message; and encode the message for transmission inaccordance with the panel index information.

Example 9 includes the one or more non-transitory, computer-readablemedia of example 8 and/or some other examples herein, wherein theinstructions are further to cause the UE to: transmit an indication of afirst uplink control information (UCI) type and a second UCI type viaPUCCH using a first panel; and transmit an indication of the second UCItype via PUCCH using a second panel.

Example 10 includes the one or more non-transitory, computer-readablemedia of example 9 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the firstUCI type is a hybrid automatic request-acknowledge (HARQ-ACK), and thesecond UCI type is a channel state information (CSI) report orscheduling request (SR).

Example 11 includes the one or more non-transitory, computer-readablemedia of example 8 and/or some other examples herein, wherein theconfiguration message is received via radio resource control (RRC)signaling or medium access layer (MAC) Control Element (CE) signaling.

Example 12 includes the one or more non-transitory, computer-readablemedia of example 8 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the panelindex information is derived from a sounding reference signal (SRS)resource.

Example 13 includes the one or more non-transitory, computer-readablemedia of example 8 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the panelindex information is to indicate a maximum number of beams that can besimultaneously transmitted by the UE.

Example 14 includes the one or more non-transitory, computer-readablemedia of example 8 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the panelindex information is to indicate a sounding reference signal (SRS)resource, a synchronization signal block (SSB) resource, or a channelstate information-reference signal (CSI-RS) resource.

Example 15 includes the one or more non-transitory, computer-readablemedia of example 8 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the panelindex information is to indicate a respective power control parameterfor each respective panel.

Example 16 includes one or more non-transitory, computer-readable mediastoring instructions, that, when executed by one or more processors,cause a next-generation NodeB (gNB) to: generate a configuration messagethat includes panel index information indicating an antenna port groupfor a user equipment (UE) for transmitting via physical uplink controlchannel (PUCCH) or physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH); and encodethe configuration message for transmission to a user equipment (UE).

Example 17 includes the one or more non-transitory, computer-readablemedia of example 16 and/or some other examples herein, wherein theinstructions are further to cause the gNB to receive, from the UE, aPUCCH signal or a PUSCH signal in accordance with the panel indexinformation.

Example 18 includes the one or more non-transitory, computer-readablemedia of example 16, wherein the message is to be transmitted via radioresource control (RRC) signaling or medium access layer (MAC) ControlElement (CE) signaling.

Example 19 includes the one or more non-transitory, computer-readablemedia of example 16 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the panelindex information is to indicate a maximum number of beams that can besimultaneously transmitted by the UE.

Example 20 includes the one or more non-transitory, computer-readablemedia of example 16 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the panelindex information is to indicate a sounding reference signal (SRS)resource, a synchronization signal block (SSB) resource, or a channelstate information-reference signal (CSI-RS) resource.

Example 21 may include an apparatus comprising means to perform one ormore elements of a method described in or related to any of examples1-20, or any other method or process described herein.

Example 22 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia comprising instructions to cause an electronic device, uponexecution of the instructions by one or more processors of theelectronic device, to perform one or more elements of a method describedin or related to any of examples 1-20, or any other method or processdescribed herein.

Example 23 may include an apparatus comprising logic, modules, and/orcircuitry to perform one or more elements of a method described in orrelated to any of examples 1-20, or any other method or processdescribed herein.

Example 24 may include a method, technique, or process as described inor related to any of examples 1-20, or portions or parts thereof.

Example 25 may include an apparatus comprising: one or more processorsand one or more computer-readable media comprising instructions that,when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or moreprocessors to perform the method, techniques, or process as described inor related to any of examples 1-20, or portions thereof.

Example 26 may include a method of communicating in a wireless networkas shown and described herein.

Example 27 may include a system for providing wireless communication asshown and described herein.

Example 28 may include a device for providing wireless communication asshown and described herein.

The description herein of illustrated implementations, including what isdescribed in the Abstract, is not intended to be exhaustive or to limitthe present disclosure to the precise forms disclosed. While specificimplementations and examples are described herein for illustrativepurposes, a variety of alternate or equivalent embodiments orimplementations calculated to achieve the same purposes may be made inlight of the above detailed description, without departing from thescope of the present disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus comprising: memory to store panelindex information to indicate an antenna port group that a userequipment (UE) is to use for a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH)signal or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH); and processingcircuitry, coupled with the memory, to: retrieve the panel indexinformation from the memory; generate a message that includes the panelindex information; and encode the message for transmission to the UE. 2.The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is further toreceive, from the UE, the PUCCH signal or the PUSCH signal in accordancewith the panel index information.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, whereinthe message is to be transmitted via radio resource control (RRC)signaling or medium access layer (MAC) Control Element (CE) signaling.4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is toderive the panel index from a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource.5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the panel index information is toindicate a maximum number of beams that can be simultaneouslytransmitted by the UE.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the panelindex information is to indicate a sounding reference signal (SRS)resource, a synchronization signal block (SSB) resource, or a channelstate information-reference signal (CSI-RS) resource.
 7. The apparatusof claim 1, wherein the panel index information is to indicate arespective power control parameter for each respective panel.
 8. One ormore non-transitory, computer-readable media storing instructions, that,when executed by one or more processors, cause a user equipment (UE) to:receive a configuration message that includes panel index information toindicate an antenna port group of the UE for transmitting a message,wherein the message is a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) messageor a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) message; and encode themessage for transmission in accordance with the panel index information.9. The one or more non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 8,wherein the instructions are further to cause the UE to: transmit anindication of a first uplink control information (UCI) type and a secondUCI type via PUCCH using a first panel; and transmit an indication ofthe second UCI type via PUCCH using a second panel.
 10. The one or morenon-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 9, wherein the firstUCI type is a hybrid automatic request-acknowledge (HARQ-ACK), and thesecond UCI type is a channel state information (CSI) report orscheduling request (SR).
 11. The one or more non-transitory,computer-readable media of claim 8, wherein the configuration message isreceived via radio resource control (RRC) signaling or medium accesslayer (MAC) Control Element (CE) signaling.
 12. The one or morenon-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 8, wherein the panelindex information is derived from a sounding reference signal (SRS)resource.
 13. The one or more non-transitory, computer-readable media ofclaim 8, wherein the panel index information is to indicate a maximumnumber of beams that can be simultaneously transmitted by the UE. 14.The one or more non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 8,wherein the panel index information is to indicate a sounding referencesignal (SRS) resource, a synchronization signal block (SSB) resource, ora channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS) resource.
 15. Theone or more non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 8, whereinthe panel index information is to indicate a respective power controlparameter for each respective panel.
 16. One or more non-transitory,computer-readable media storing instructions, that, when executed by oneor more processors, cause a next-generation NodeB (gNB) to: generate aconfiguration message that includes panel index information indicatingan antenna port group for a user equipment (UE) for transmitting viaphysical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or physical uplink sharedchannel (PUSCH); and encode the configuration message for transmissionto a user equipment (UE).
 17. The one or more non-transitory,computer-readable media of claim 16, wherein the instructions arefurther to cause the gNB to receive, from the UE, a PUCCH signal or aPUSCH signal in accordance with the panel index information.
 18. The oneor more non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 16, wherein themessage is to be transmitted via radio resource control (RRC) signalingor medium access layer (MAC) Control Element (CE) signaling.
 19. The oneor more non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 16, wherein thepanel index information is to indicate a maximum number of beams thatcan be simultaneously transmitted by the UE.
 20. The one or morenon-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 16, wherein the panelindex information is to indicate a sounding reference signal (SRS)resource, a synchronization signal block (SSB) resource, or a channelstate information-reference signal (CSI-RS) resource.